


The Gabriel Family

by LeDiz



Series: The 48: Miraculous Ladybug [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's mother being gone, Angst, Bastille Day, Family, Gen, No longer canon-compliant, Unfinished
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 13:28:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8846854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: Every year, for the National Celebration, Gabriel Designs runs a campaign. This is the first year they're running it without Mrs Agreste heading it. Adrien isn't exactly taking it well.





	

Two months before the National Celebration, Adrien slams the car door behind him and doesn’t say a word as he stalks—actually _stalks_ —right past Nino and into the school without looking behind him.

Nino stares. Then he turns and looks back at the car to find the Gorilla peering out through the open window until he sees Nino’s attention and quickly drives away.

Despite his prodding, Adrien barely says a word all day. He answers direct questions, pays attention in class, and otherwise silently _seethes_. When he doesn’t need to use them, his hands stay clenched in fists on his thighs, where no one but Nino can see. The muscles in his arms and neck, usually only really noticeable when Adrien’s having a thin day, are perfectly visible and straining.

But during P.E., they’re playing football and Adrien apparently decides to take his frustration out on the ball. He kicks it so hard it literally pounds into the goalpost, hard enough to make the whole thing shake and jolt back a few centimetres. On the rebound, the ball nearly takes off Max’s head.

They’re all a little shocked, especially Adrien, who stares at what he almost did before turning on his heel and running for the exit.

“A- wait up!” Nino yells, and doesn’t wait for the teacher’s okay before sprinting after him.

 

* * *

 

Plagg clutches at Adrien’s ribs, begging him to slow down, calm down, and breathe. “You didn’t hit him! He’s fine! It’s fine!”

In the end, he pushes a little bad luck out and Adrien trips, then stumbles into the wall. He falls against it, nails scraping against the plaster, and Plagg takes the opportunity to fly out where he can look his panicking cat in the eye.

Adrien’s not home right now.

“Hey! Hey, wake up! Listen!” he says, and then realises it’s going to take more than that. He draws himself up, but a flash of colour catches his eye before he can start. Nino. Bad timing.

Plagg zips into Adrien’s collar. He might still be able to handle this if he’s careful.

 

* * *

 

Normally, he’d have no chance to catch Adrien at a full sprint – the guy is beyond fit and Nino is definitely not. But apparently Adrien had barely made it past the locker rooms before falling against the wall in what looked an awful lot like a panic attack.

“Adrien!” he gasps, and grabs his friend’s shoulders, dragging him around so his back is to the wall. “Dude! Dude, come on, breathe, it’s okay!”

God, what are you supposed to do in these situations? Adrien can’t breathe, he’s barely conscious. Are you supposed to sit them down? Head between his knees? Lie down? He’s pretty sure a paper bag is supposed to be involved.

But then, abruptly, Adrien’s jaw clips shut. He breathes in through his nose, holds it, and then huffs it out through barely parted lips. This happens a few more times. Then he starts mumbling under his breath. “Concrete. Plaster. Nino. _Nino_.” His eyes snap open, looking up at him through his hair, and he starts to panic again until his eyes unfocus and he starts doing the motions again. Breathes through his nose, out through his mouth. He mumbles about the plaster behind him, the concrete floor, Nino’s hands on his shoulders.

Slowly, very slowly, he calms down.

“Adrien? Bro, you okay?” Nino asks quietly.

It takes a minute for Adrien to answer. He nods, but his eyes are shining and when he speaks it’s a very soft and broken “Not at all.”

 

* * *

 

It was a tradition, started the year he was born. An ongoing advertising campaign of sorts – every year, Gabriel Designs released a special ad for the National Celebration, featuring Adrien and his mother as a kind of ‘family’ thing. Naturally, the ads stopped when she disappeared.

This year, they were bringing the campaign back, with just Adrien.

He didn’t want to do it. He even told his father so, to his face. It had been something he did with his _mother_ , it was _their_ tradition, he didn’t want to do it alone.

Gabriel had told him to stop being childish. And then told him to leave, before he was late for school. Unless, he added, Adrien had changed his mind about that experiment?

 

* * *

 

“I can’t go back,” Adrien whispers, his hands threading into his hair. “I don’t want to go back.”

Nino’s not sure what Adrien’s talking about, specifically, but it doesn’t really matter. “Come on,” he says, gently pulling his friend to his feet. “We’re going to play video games at my house.”

“But – school, and… I – I should apologise to –”

“Tomorrow,” he says firmly. Adrien’s eyes widen at the tone, before he nods, just once.

 

* * *

 

A month before the National Celebration, Adrien doesn’t come in to school. They knew he would be in late – a photoshoot, he said. It’s a little surprising when he doesn’t just come in late, but the only one who’s actually worried is Nino, who sends text messages every hour and even calls at lunch, leaving a voice mail.

“Would you text me back, dude? Seriously, I… just text me back, okay?”

But Marinette’s more concerned about the message Alya gets from a Ladyblog follower to say Cat Noir’s been spotted on the rooftops of outer Paris. It’s unusual – most akuma are formed in the middle of the city, near the landmarks. She’s worried. If Hawkmoth starts targeting people outside her immediate surroundings, it’s going to take a lot longer for her to get there and help people.

“That might not be it, remember,” Tikki reminds her quietly. They’re holed up in a quiet corner between classes, as Marinette debates going. The commenter didn’t mention any akuma – just Cat Noir. And as Tikki’s telling her, there are other reasons he could be out.

So she holds off. After school, she checks the blog to confirm that he’s still apparently out and about, parkouring his way across the city apparently just for kicks. She suits up, checks her yo-yo for his location, and takes off after him.

He stops short when he sees her, and immediately drops into a crouch, breathing hard. “Always a pleasure, milady.”

“What are you doing out here?” she asks. “Was there an akuma?”

“No,” he pants. “Just plenty of rooftops. You?”

“I kept getting reports of a stray cat,” she says, and walks over to join him. “How long have you been out here?”

He laughs, breathless. “Ah, I don’t know. What time is it?”

“Almost four.”

“Oh. Um… seven hours. Give or take,” he says, and glances at his ring. “I’ll need to do something about that, soon.”

She watches him carefully. He looks fine. Tired – exhausted, actually. But they usually don’t stay transformed for more than a few hours at a time and even if he has been taking breaks to watch and wave at people, the reports say he’s spent most of the day running. Not even using his stick much, just… running. If it was her, she’d be half-dead by now. But he otherwise seems fine.

But that doesn’t make sense. They don’t transform for no reason. “Are you okay?”

“Should I not be?” he asks lightly.

Tikki’s voice tickles the back of her consciousness, less words and more feelings. _Don’t touch this, Marinette. This is not about Cat Noir or Ladybug. Leave it alone unless you’re prepared for the consequences._

She’s worried about him. But she’s the one who set the rules. She doesn’t want to know about the boy behind the mask.

So she holds out a hand in offer, instead. “Escort a lady back to the city?”

His eyes flick from her hand to her face, and then he smiles, all cat-like charm, before taking her hand and turning it for a kiss. “Always.”

They race each other across the rooftops. He’s moving a little slower than usual, but she lets him set the pace. They’re flagged down by the mayor’s assistant when they pass by City Hall, and exchange surprised glances before heading over.

She has a proposition for them. Cat Noir’s ring finally starts beeping about half-way through her pitch, but they get the general idea before he has to leave.

The next time she sees him, they’re battling akuma, but he suggests they take her up on the offer. It would be fun.

 

* * *

 

Ladybug and Cat Noir show up for the fete. It’s a big deal, and the city’s been advertising it, but it’s not a very _official_ thing. They just leap over the rooftops, thread their way through the parades, chase each other through the markets and pose for selfies with fans. Ladybug’s signing autographs and Cat Noir lets kids beat him at wrestling. There’s no plan to it, no order or structure, but that’s kind of the point.

It _is_ the National Celebration after all. It’s supposed to be about freedom.

Adrien is expected to make an appearance at a special lunch. He and Ladybug split up to ‘feed their kwamis’ and he smiles his way through what basically amounts to a press conference.

“How do you feel about the return of the Gabriel Family campaign?” a reporter asks, sipping wine but otherwise not being at all discreet about the recording app on his phone. “The last five years have used external models for the Fashion and Freedom campaign, so it was a bit of a surprise to see it come back.”

“I’m honoured my father’s put so much faith in me,” he says calmly. He’s recited these lines so many times. “The Gabriel Family campaign has always meant a lot to us, so to be asked to bring it back—to be the face of it—is truly humbling.”

“It’s the first time you’ve done this particular kind of shoot without your mother. Any thoughts on that?”

“Obviously, it’s a bittersweet sort of moment. My mother loved modelling, and the Gabriel family,” he says. “But that family isn’t just me and my parents, it’s all of us. The designers, the tailors, the media team, admin and even security. We’re all family here, and that’s what this campaign means.”

The reporter makes a noise into his wine, and Adrien smiles him down.

Twenty minutes later he’s gripping the sink in the bathroom and staring into his own eyes in the mirror. Plagg is finishing off the last of what was a mountain of cheese and watching him quietly.

“You okay?” he asks softly.

“I’m honoured my father’s put so much faith in me,” he tells them both, and then straightens up. “You ready?”

In answer, Plagg swallows a chunk of cheese bigger than his head and flies upward. Adrien unlocks the door and opens the window, then holds out his fist. “Plagg, claws out!”

He lets the wind and the dust of the rooftops push away the rest of his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

It’s almost midnight now, but Ladybug has another couple of hours before her Miraculous runs out. She and Cat Noir have been taking breaks to let their kwamis refuel, and check in with their friends and family so their absences aren’t noticed. So she’s taking a moment as the celebrations die off, sitting on the edge of the Seine and gazing down at a boat with a large poster of Adrien splashed across its sides.

It’s a really, really nice ad. He’s in a field of grapevines, clearly having just paused running, and is reaching out, inviting her to come with him. He wears a red jacket, white shirt, blue jeans. He’s laughing, and his eyes are warm. Even if she didn’t know him, didn’t love him with all her heart, she would want to go with him. Run through those fields just to feel the rush.

“So here you are. I thought you might have gone home for the day.”

She jumps, not having heard Cat Noir come up behind her. She looks up as he sits down, and is doubly surprised when he holds out a coffee cup for her to take.

“Compliments of Cafe du Chat Blanc,” he says. “The only coffee cart still open. And appropriate, I thought.”

“Au lait?” she asks dubiously, and he shakes his head.

“Chocolate.”

“Clever kitty,” she says, and he grins until she raises an eyebrow. “Why buy me hot chocolate if you thought I would be home?”

“To be fair, I didn’t buy this anymore than I bought anything today,” he points out. They’ve been having freebies and testers pressed on them all day – free advertising, she suspects, but mostly her only thought about it is that she’s stuffed to the gills. Cat Noir’s already complained about how much time he’s going to have to spend at the gym to work it all off. “But mostly it was just hope. I wanted to end the day with you, milady.”

She leans in to nudge his shoulder, and he nudges back before turning to look at the boat as well. He doesn’t quite manage to hide his scowl behind his own drink.

It’s such an unusual look that she stares,  and he glances at her before offering a smile instead.

“Did you have a good day?”

“It was wonderful,” she says. And it was. It wasn’t just getting to spend time as Ladybug without having to fight, or being able to spend time with their fans, or any of that. If she’s really, truly honest, she had a lot of fun with Cat Noir today. They played, they danced, they chatted about food. She’s always felt close to him—closer than she had any right to—but today was the first time she’s thought they really could be friends. That it wasn’t just the Miraculous that brought them together.

“How’s your kwami doing?” he asks, and she absently touches one of her earrings.

“Fine. I think I have a couple more hours. You?”

“The same. Though I, on the other hand, am exhausted. And bruised. Those little kids hit _hard_.”

“Oh, please, you loved it,” she says, nudging him again. “Having all those kids crawling all over you. I don’t think you’d have come up for air if you didn’t have to rescue me from autographs.”

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a big pair of eyes,” he says, and then turns to smirk at her. “Especially blue ones.”

“That was terrible, even by your standards,” she informs him, and he chuckles.

“Sorry, I’m tired.”

They go back to the advertisement, but it’s not long before Ladybug starts to feel awkward. Cat Noir is warm and wonderful beside her, but Adrien is handsome and inviting in front of her. She feels like she’s lying to someone.

“You know, Gabriel Designs used to use a different model for those ads.”

She blinks and looks around. Cat Noir doesn’t meet her gaze, his eyes hard and focussed on the boat. She tilts her head, curious about his reaction to it. “They had something completely different last year. A bunch of people watching the fireworks.”

“Different kind of ad,” he says. “This is a return to something they did a long time ago.”

“Oh… I didn’t notice,” she says, and he hums.

“She was really beautiful, the old face of Gabriel,” he says, almost absently. “Like a queen.”

“Maybe not so appropriate for the National Celebration, then,” she jokes, only to flinch when he immediately glares at her.

It’s surprisingly frightening. Not just because Cat Noir… well, honestly, she knows him too well to be scared of him, but he can look decidedly creepy when he wants to. Between the black leather, his glowing eyes, the way his hair hangs and even his smirks… Cat Noir is dark and dangerous and he _looks_ it. But it’s frightening because Cat Noir _doesn’t_ glare. Not at her. He doesn’t get angry or upset, even when she knows she deserves it.

Why this—this stupid little joke—bothered him, she doesn’t know.

But he seems to realise what he’s doing, because he quickly flinches and looks away again, hunching his shoulders. “Your jokes are so lame,” he mumbles.

It’s a peace offering, however much it doesn’t sound like it. An opening for her to tell him his are worse. To make it not matter.

But it does matter. She can’t ask why. Not without breaking the rules. But she knows it matters and knows she’s hurt him and knows he won’t tell her how.

She slips her arm around his elbow and pulls it into her side. “I prefer Adrien Agreste anyway. I mean, look at that face and honestly tell me he doesn’t look good.”

It doesn’t earn the light-hearted scoff she was expecting. Cat Noir is quiet for a few seconds before humming vaguely and burying anything else in his drink.

“I’ve met him, you know,” she says, trying to prod him into reacting. “A couple of times. He’s even more handsome in person.”

That does earn a glance and a quirked eyebrow. “You think he’s handsome?”

“I think he’s perfect,” she corrects, grinning at him so he knows full well she’s trying to bait him. “Handsome, and kind, and sweet and he doesn’t make bad jokes, and he thinks I’m wonderful.”

“You are wonderful,” he replies smoothly. But there’s an odd look to him now, clean and calm and not at all like her cat. “You just have horrible taste in models. And jokes.”

And then he unhooks their arms and gets to his feet, knocking back the last of his drink. “I should get going. I’ll see-”

“Wait!” she says, scrambling to her feet as well. He pauses long enough for her to grab his free hand and other wrist, but then she’s not sure what to do with either of them, so they just end up staring at each other.

She should apologise, she knows. She’s just not sure what she’s apologising for. And she’s messed this up. This whole wonderful day, and she’s ruined it. They were friends. But if she doesn’t fix this, it’s going to go back to just… what are they, co-workers? They won’t even be partners, because she’s hurt him somehow. And partners don’t do that to each other.

But he just chuckles and lifts her hand to his lips. “I’ll count the hours until we meet again, milady.”

And then, he slips away, and she lets him go. Because that's all she knows how to do.

...

**Author's Note:**

> The 48 is a collection of pointless and/or unfinished fics saved to my hard drive, now posted on Ao3 for people's interest or in case they want to adopt them.
> 
> Ugh. You know, I actually didn't mind this one so much and kind of figured that once the show started airing again, I'd probably get the motivation to finish it. Then the Christmas episode came out and told us that apparently Adrien's mother has been missing for less than a year (and if that doesn't make the depressing foyer portrait even more depressing and/or passive aggressive, I don't know what would...) rendering the plot of this essentially... well, excessive. And the Christmas episode did it with songs!
> 
> But hey, in the spirit of the 48...


End file.
